Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism | |
---|---|
Isbaheysiga Ladagaalanka Argagaxisadda | |
Also known as | Somali Warlord Alliance |
Leaders | Botan Ise Alin Mohamed Afrah Qanyare Musa Sudi Yalahow Nuur Daqle Abdi Hasan Awale Qeybdiid Omar Muhamoud Finnish |
Foundation | 2002 |
Dissolved | June 2006 |
Ideology | Greater Somalia Secularism Big Tent |
Allies | Ethiopia Transitional Federal Government United States |
Opponents | Islamic Courts Union Al-Shabaab Ras Kamboni Brigades |
Battles and wars | 2006 Islamic Courts Union offensive |
The Somali Warlord Alliance, officially called the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (abbreviated ARPCT; Somali : Isbaheysiga Ladagaalanka Argagaxisadda), was a Somali alliance created by various Somali warlords and businessmen to challenge the emerging influence of the Islamic Courts Union during the Somali Civil War. [1]
The leadership of the alliance consisted Botan Ise Alin, Mohammed Dheere, [2] Mohamed Qanyare, Musa Sudi Yalahow, Nuur Daqle, Abdi Hasan Awale Qeybdiid, Omar Muhamoud Finnish and others.[ citation needed ] Some of them were ministers in the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia. [3]
The International Crisis Group, which had direct contacts with the warlords, said in June 2006 that the CIA was funnelling $100,000 to $150,000 a month to the ARPCT. [4] The US refused to confirm or deny these reports, stating that they will support anyone against terrorism [5]
On June 4, 2006, the Islamic Courts Union led a major offensive against the ARPCT, leading to major hostilities dubbed the Second Battle of Mogadishu. By July 10th, the ICU had said that they had taken full control of the city [6]
Abdi Hasan Awale Qeybdiid defected from the alliance in June 2006, saying that "Since the formation of ARPCT, Mogadishu has been a centre of a military crisis that has led to the needless death of hundreds of people, therefore I decide to quit the alliance to build on the gains of the Islamic tribunals and give peace a chance". [7]
Michael Zorick (the U.S. State Department's political officer for Somalia), who had been stationed in Nairobi, was reassigned to Chad after he sent a cable to Washington criticizing Washington's policy of paying Somali warlords. The New York Times stated, "The American activities in Somalia have been approved by top officials in Washington and were reaffirmed during a National Security Council meeting about Somalia in March." [8]
On 7 June 2006, the Republic of the Congo's president and current African Union head, Denis Sassou-Nguesso, criticized the United States for its involvement in fighting in Mogadishu following his meeting with President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. [9] [10]
Ali Mohammed Gedi, popularly known as Ali Gedi, was the Prime Minister of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia from 2004 to 2007. He was relatively unknown in political circles upon his appointment as prime minister in November 2004. He is affiliated with the Abgaal subclan of Mogadishu's Hawiye clan, one of Somalia's four most powerful clan 'families'. He narrowly survived a suicide attack on his home that left at least seven people dead on June 3, 2007.
Muse Sudi Yalahow born Mogadishu was a Trade Minister in the Transitional Government of Ali Mohammed Ghedi. He was dismissed in June 2006 after ignoring government requests to halt fighting with the Islamic Courts Union militia.
The Second Battle of Mogadishu was fought for control of Somalia's capital city, Mogadishu. The opposing forces were the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT), and militia loyal to the Islamic Courts Union (ICU). The conflict began in mid-February 2006, when Somali warlords formed the ARPCT to challenge the ICU's emerging influence. The ICU's influence was largely generated by wealthy financial donors who sought to enable the Islamic Courts Union to seize power in the country to bring stability. The battle is referred to as the Second Battle to distinguish it amongst the nine major Battles of Mogadishu during the decades-long Somali Civil War.
The Islamic Courts Union was a legal and political organization founded by Mogadishu-based Sharia courts during the early 2000s to combat the lawlessness stemming from the Somali Civil War. By mid-to-late 2006, the Islamic Courts had expanded their influence to become the de facto government of most of southern Somalia.
Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys (English: Hassan Dahir Aweys (Somali: Xasan Daahir Aweys, is a Somali Islamist political figure. During the regime of Siad Barre, Aweys was a colonel in the Somali National Army and served in the 1977 Ogaden War against Ethiopia.
Abdi Hasan Awale or Abdi Qeybdiid is a Somali politician.
The Ethiopian occupation of Somalia, also called the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia or the Ethiopian intervention in the Somali Civil War, was an armed conflict that lasted from late 2006 to early 2009. It began when military forces from Ethiopia, supported by the United States, invaded Somalia to depose the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) and install the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). The conflict continued after the invasion when an anti-Ethiopian insurgency emerged and rapidly escalated. During 2007 and 2008, the insurgency recaptured the majority of territory lost by the ICU. At the start of 2009 Ethiopian troops withdrew from Somalia, but became re-involved several years later to counter the growing strength of Al-Shabaab.
The 2006 Islamic Courts Union offensive is the period in the Somali Civil War that began in May 2006 with the Islamic Courts Union's (ICU) conquest of Mogadishu from the Alliance for the Restoration of Peace and Counter-Terrorism (ARPCT) and continued with further ICU expansion in the country. Following the outbreak of the war on December 21, 2006; by December 24, direct Ethiopian intervention in the conflict in support of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) was no longer denied by the Ethiopian government. The Eritrean government denied any involvement despite Ethiopian claims to the contrary.
The Battle of Bandiradley in Somalia began on December 23, 2006, when Galmudug and Ethiopian forces, along with faction leader Abdi Qeybdid, fought Islamic Courts Union (ICU) militants defending Bandiradley. The fighting pushed the Islamists out of Bandiradley and over the border south into Adado district, Galgadud region, by December 25.
The Battle of Jowhar took place during the 2006 Somali War between the Islamic Courts Union (ICU) and affiliated militias against Ethiopian and Transitional Federal Government (TFG) forces for control of the town of Jowhar. It began on December 27, 2006, when retreating ICU forces regrouped near their stronghold of Jowhar. It became the last major town and strategic stronghold of the ICU to fall to Ethiopian and TFG forces before the latter overtook Mogadishu two days later.
The fall of Mogadishu occurred on December 28, 2006, when the militaries of Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and Ethiopian troops entered the Somali capital unopposed. It came after a swift string of TFG and Ethiopian military victories against the Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which had its headquarters in Mogadishu before it fled south.
Mohamed Qanyare Afrah (Somali: Maxamed Qanyare Afrax, Arabic: محمد افراح قنياري} was a Somali faction leader and politician who was based south of Mogadishu in the Daynile District. He came in third position in Somalia's first election as a federal country on 10 October 2004 and was subsequently appointed minister of public security in the government of Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi, He served as minister of security in 2006 but was dismissed after ignoring calls by the Prime Minister Ali Mohammed Ghedi to stop fighting forces of the Islamist Courts. He continued to participate actively in Somali political affairs being reelected to the first post transitional federal parliament of Somalia as a member of parliament, he resigned from his seat representing his clan in the summer of 2013, his seat in the Federal Parliament of Somalia was taken over by his son Cabdiweli Mohamed Qanyare.
After two decades of violence and civil war and after the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) of Somalia captured Mogadishu and Kismayo, the TFG attempted to disarm the militias of the country in late 2006. According to the UN/World Bank's Joint Needs Assessment (JNA) coordination secretariat, "the total estimated number of militias [militia members] to be demobilized is 53,000." In 2005, they estimated that "there are 11–15,000 militia people controlling Mogadishu ."
Mohamed Omar Habeb, commonly known as Mohamed Dheere or Mohamed Dhere, was a Somali faction leader based out of the city of Jowhar. He hailed from the Abgaal subclan of Hawiye. He also had significant influence on the northern parts of the capital Mogadishu where he controlled a militia of around 400 men.
Aden Hashi Farah Aero was the military commander of the Al Shabaab. He was from the Ayr sub-clan, part of the Habar Gidir, which is a branch of the Hawiye clan. He was reportedly married to Halima Abdi Issa Yusuf. He was among several militants killed in a U.S. airstrike on 1 May 2008.
Omar Mohamud Mohamed is a Somali politician and former warlord known as Omar Finnish. He is the former Mayor of Mogadishu and Governor of Banaadir. He was appointed on 22 August 2019 by Somalia President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed. He stepped down on 7 September 2022 after the new president of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, reappointed Yusuf Hussein Jimaale as the new mayor of Mogadishu and Governor of Banaadir.
The timeline of events in the War in Somalia during 2006 is set out below.
Battle of Mogadishu may refer to:
Gabre Heard or Gebre Heard,, was a General in the Ethiopian National Defense Force, top party official of the Tigray People's Liberation Front, and the supreme commander of Ethiopian military forces in Somalia.
Since the 1960s the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has engaged in a variety of covert activities in the east African country of Somalia. These activities have included financing pro-Western Somali political parties, funding warlords, extraordinary renditions and most recently operating black sites.